Usually, the Finance Bill will go through
the Committees of Parliament in which there is the ability for MPs to
scrutinise the proposals.

There have been welcome improvements to the
process of drafting tax law with a tax consultation framework that was issued
in 2011, but the most recent Finance Act was placed before the House of
Commons at 10am on 23 March 2015 and was given Royal Assent on the 26 March
2015 at 5pm.

The scrutiny that one would normally expect
for detailed, complicated taxing powers have become a few hours of
Parliamentary process. Some parts had been subject to consultation, but there
were plenty that hadn't.

It doesn't seem right that such important
legislation can be passed on the nod.

The last Budget contained changes of
complexity and substance.

Changes to entrepreneurs' relief that came
out of the blue; the diverted profits tax or "Google Tax"; and a range of
reliefs which look similar to some which have been subject to cries of
avoidance in the not so distant past.

With this Budget, Parliament must be given sufficient time to scrutinise and understand the unintended
consequences of the Chancellor's post-election statement.

Proper scrutiny of legislative change is vital to the
smooth-running of the tax system.

Without that scrutiny the Government may be
fuelling the potential for tax avoidance rather than achieving its rightful
objective of collecting more from the grey areas of the fiscal frontline.

It is likely that the Chancellor will focus
a lot on tax avoidance as he sets out how he will balance the books
over the next few years.

We believe he needs to ensure that better
framed legislation sets a foundation for a new approach to solving this age old
problem.

He needs to tackle the sheer scale of
Britain's tax laws.

We also believe there is clearly a need for a new era of better
standards of behaviour all round – from accountants, tax advisors, tax
administrations, businesses and individuals.

Businesses need to be more transparent. The public at large needs better informed on
tax.

As well as the current focus on tax
avoidance, we believe that Government should focus more on criminal evasion and
better resource that area of work.

These measures are a recipe for reducing
avoidance and bringing clarity to the tax system.